Article April 30, 2012 Issue

My prayer for the rhinos

Yvonne Prinsloo

What a privilege it is for me to spend time on a wild animal game farm in South Africa! I love being there among all the wild animals and birds of the African bush. These animals include giraffes, buffalo, warthogs, and many different buck (antelope). One thing I love to do is sit on the steps of the back veranda of the farmhouse with my husband and watch the rhinos as they appear out of the bush. Silently they arrive from every direction to feed at the dam nearby. Sometimes they come alone, and sometimes they arrive with their young ones. It doesn’t take long before the herd is a happy family eating the food especially prepared for them by the farmer and the farmworkers.

Vonnie the rhino introduces her baby

Each of the rhinos has been given a name. We have such fun watching George and his
ladies, as they lie in the mud to keep cool, spar with one another, or toss the feed into the air. A most special time is when a baby rhino is introduced to us. How sweet they look as they drink from their mothers. Often a baby will lie in its mother’s shade to get out of the hot African sun while she eats undisturbed. Once the rhinos have had their fill, they disappear back into the bush as quietly and as quickly as they arrived—without a sound. 